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Title: Dialogue : Rediscover the Transforming Power of Conversation by Linda Ellinor, Glenna Gerard ISBN: 0-471-17466-1 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 20 February, 1998 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.33 (6 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Useful stuff
Comment: This book was a much more detailed exploration of the topic of dialog. It began with a scattered, pretty useless dialog between some academics and consultants transcribed from a group phone call they made. I found this painful to get through as it was a real collage of different ideas and their latest 'thoughts' they all needed to share. They didn't seem to be talking 'to' each other, but that was probably due to the fact that they were on the phone and that they are all so full of ideas on the subject that they couldn't help but blabber on and on when they each had a chance. While it avoided a lot of the 'metaphysical' aspects of Dialog (as compared with the previous book - "Spiritual Art of Dialog" that I read before this), it did tend to oversimplify problems in the workplace a bit in my opinion. The first parts of the book offered some great tips on how to engage in, and maintain a positive dialog. It talked about intentions as being very important, and suspending one's own assumptions and judgments that were useful. It also stressed the importance of being a good listener and asking good questions. There were few tips on how to gauge nonverbal queues, which I think would have been useful, but there were a lot of suggested activities to get better at it. The point I think they were making were that nonverbal queues are specific to individuals and can't be readily identified generally. There was talk of inquiry (asking questions) and also of reflection (taking moments and going slowly) which was also interesting. Then the part of the book that most interested me were the practical tips that management could take to implement better dialog in the workplace. Although they were very skeptical of it working in long-term ways in most circumstances, which took away from the authority of the book, and in that way they seemed to undermine what they were advocating. There was also discussion of group evolution dynamics, and the four stages of a group. They did get slightly metaphysical in talking about mysterious group energies and such, but I took it all with a grain of salt. The idea of shared leadership seemed powerful if properly implemented, but they also pointed out some very dangerous aspects that can go along with implementing it and that should be watched for.
Rating: 4
Summary: not a ground breaker, but a worthwhile read
Comment: This book is not an eye-opener, it appears to be going over ground that has been covered before. But for those of us who are grappling with the concept of utilizing DIALOG in organizational change and development, an approach that skims the surface, explains the benefits and touches on different issues while pointing you to a place where you can do more research is probably more useful than an in-depth study of the more esoteric features.
Rating: 1
Summary: More-of-the-same:An incoherent mishmash of training gimmicks
Comment: I concur with one of the reviewer's from Seattle...this book exploits the whole intent of dialogue, turning it into yet another training tool and management consulting technique. The deeper and more illuminating aspects of dialogue, its potential for a true metanoia, are lost to a bunch of eclectic little structured exercises for people to perform in training sessions. It seems their book reflects a modern phenomena, particularly evident in the management consulting world, where truly fresh insights and new approaches to inquiry that could potentially open up the mind, are dumbed down, commodified, and technique-ized, and trivialized in the effort to mass market them. This book will appeal to those who want another tool in their tool-box, but not to those who are genuinely seeking an authentic exploration of dialogue, where no paths or techniques are imposed on the mind in advance.
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Title: Dialogue : The Art Of Thinking Together by William Isaacs ISBN: 0385479999 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 14 September, 1999 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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Title: Dialogue at Work: Skills for Leveraging Collective Understanding by Glenna Gerard, Linda Ellinor ISBN: 1883823560 Publisher: Pegasus Communications Pub. Date: 01 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: On Dialogue by David Bohm, Lee Nichol ISBN: 0415149126 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: December, 1996 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World Revised by Margaret J. Wheatley ISBN: 1576751198 Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Pub Pub. Date: 15 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Magic of Dialogue : Transforming Conflict into Cooperation by Daniel Yankelovich ISBN: 0684865661 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 05 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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